The story of Little Black Sambo was written in 1899 by Hellen Bannerman, a Scottish woman, about an Indian boy who was chased by tigers into the jungle, and the tigers somehow turned into butter and melted, and Little Black Sambo used the butter on his pancakes. Sambo's used this imagery in their advertising and brand marketing--I mean, hey, they served breakfast. However, since it was "Little Black Sambo" and people who do such things aren't particularly careful about application of stereotypes the term "Sambo" had been taken and co-opted into a derogatory stereotype of African Americans in the US. Thus a source of conflict.